I'm installing a replacement motorized antenna in my '86 Jaguar Vanden Plas. The motor sits in the boot and a flexible black cable goes through a cavity to the wheel wellwhere it is attached to the antenna mast. The new antenna came all assembled. The black flexible cable attaches to the mast with three set screws. It is almost impossible to thread the mast through the cavity to the wheel well. Can I remove the 3 screws and detach the mast? Then I could thread the flexible cable through the cavity and then reattach the mast in the wheel well. But I'd like to know I can remove the 3 screws and detach the mast without causing damage. Any advice appreciated!

 

Welcome to the forum rstaver1,

I've moved your question from General Tech Help to XJ6 & XJ12 Series I, II & III forum.

Members here with the same model will be able to help.

Graham

 

I can't comment for sure about an aftermarket, but I can about the OEM...

The motor has a cable, and the very end of the cable is the tip of the mast.
The rest of the mast is another, separate assembly..
To remove..
You remove the "ball" from the tip of the mast..
Then you remove the single mounting nut on the body of the car, behind the tail lamp.
This loosens a large nut that is at the top of the body, and frees the mast from the car.
Next, you remove the screws on the bottom of the mast, and the weedeater like string, and the tip of the mast separate from the mast.
Disconnect the wiring and top nut from the bracket on the rear of the boot..
You then pull that cable sheathing and the very tip of the mast through the routing in the boot...

Re-installation, as they say, is a reverse of the above procedure..

Cheers,
David
Everyday XJ

 

David - This is helpful! I can free the old mast from the body with no problem. The new unit came preassembled as a single unit. What I am trying to figure out is how to separate the rigid mast unit from the flexible cable. Doing that will allow me to more easily feed the flexible cable through the trunk cavity. Obviously it looks like removing the screws at the bottom of the mast will allow me to separate the mast from the flexible cable. But what I'm hearing you say is that I also need to remove the chrome antenna tip at the very end of the antenna mast. Then, once I remove the screws the whole rigid mast piece should slide off the flexible cable. Am I understanding correctly? If so, it was 'removing the antenna tip' was the part I was missing before. Thanks much!

 

Sounds right.. I'll attach some photos too for clarification...
The round tip comes off the end of the mast...
and the final mast section are part of the antenna motor, attached by the nylon string...

Cheers
David
Everyday XJ

 

Success! The instructions that came with the aftermarket antenna unit said this would be a 15 minute install. We all know that wouldn't be true but you gotta laugh. I got the new unit in, had to do a little re fabrication on a bracket holding the motor but it fits nicely. The instructions for wiring in the new unit left something to be desired but nothing I couldn't figure out with a 12 v test light. It all worked on the first try. Now, get it polished up for a local car show tomorrow. Nice start to a week-end. Thanks for the advice!